


And Then She Kissed Her

by the_wrote



Category: The Outer Worlds (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Post-Canon, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:00:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22275226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_wrote/pseuds/the_wrote
Summary: A small day-in-the-life look at the Groundbreaker's Captain and Head Engineer. They are adorable, as is to be expected.
Relationships: Parvati Holcomb/Junlei Tennyson
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	And Then She Kissed Her

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inquisitor_tohru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inquisitor_tohru/gifts).



> *throws puffs of cotton at you* Anyways, here is this fluff.

0600

The little alarm, situated as far away from their bed as possible, blasted through the final, foggy remnants of Parvati’s dream. It was a daily ritual she had with the alarm: it would go off, she would groggily stumble out of bed, slap wildly at it until the noise stopped, and shuffle her way back to bed. Junlei, already awake for an hour, would burst through the door just as Parvati was tucking herself back in, a cup of coffee in her left hand, a cup of coffee for Parvati in her right. 

“You made it a whole awful lot louder,” Parvati accused. 

Junlei made a noncommittal sound, a _yes_ and a _no_ mixed as a hum in her throat. “Which job do you want today?” she asked instead, settling down next to the crescent shape Parvati made underneath the covers. She held the coffee just out of reach while she waited for an answer. 

“Ah, shoot. I’ll look at that sprat shop; I know you can’t stand the smell.”

Junlei smiled, familiar and well-memorized creases framing either side of her mouth. Parvati held a hand out and pressed her thumb against her wife’s lips, her other fingers cupping the woman’s jaw in a gentle hold. 

“No taking it back,” Junlei said. She placed both cups of coffee on the ground, one on either side of her boots, and then she leaned down to kiss her.

1100

Parvati was raised eating sprat, but even she grew tired of the smell. Cooped up for four hours in a room with only a fryer for company, she was eager to cross the item off her to-do list. Running a ship as big as the _Groundbreaker,_ her list was never any shorter. Day in and day out, there was always something new to fix. People were rough, they overworked machines and under thought what was required for maintenance, and eventually, even the little parts of the ship had to go. Well, _would_ have to go - lucky for the vessel, she had two of the best engineers at her helm. Waste not, want not. That was the rule of space.

“That should do it for ya, ma’am,” Parvati sighed. She thumbed a spot of grease on her coveralls and tried not to think about where it had come from. “You’re just gonna have to turn it off every night, or else one-day somethin’ a lot worse is gonna happen.”

“But the secret,” the cook began, “is - “

“- the heat,” Parvati finished. “I swear, the oil will heat up plenty fast, even if the fryer has been off all night.” 

The cook might have begun to protest, but an interruption came in the form of Junlei’s already dirty face peeking through the open door. “Hope I’m not too early?” she asked.

“‘Course not, captain.” Parvati grinned and nodded to the cook before stepping out.

The pair made for the center of the promenade, the rhythm of their walk naturally synching.

“Is there an emergency of some kind?” Parvati asked, wondering what Junlei was in the middle of that had her walking by the shop. 

“Just this,” Junlei said, and before Parvati could reply, she leaned over and kissed her.

1500

There was a time Parvati thought Edgewater was small. Back home, she was always surrounded by people, lived in an apartment with walls like paper, knew everyone’s schedule. Living with Captain Hawthorne had forced her to reexamine what she thought of as small, but it added a new element - cozy. The _Unreliable_ had been intimate, for all its ups and downs, and she found she didn’t mind the small so much.

The _Groundbreaker_ was a different beast. It was small, busy, familiar, and yet always different. Traffic to the ship had only increased after she had left the _Unreliable_ and made the _Groundbreaker_ her home base, and with it came a deluge of new faces. She had come to learn the regulars quick enough, but there were always tourists, visitors, passers-through. 

“It’s real easy to get lost ‘round here,” she assured the frazzled man next to her. “My first few weeks here, I always ended up on the opposite side of the ship. Honest, one time, I even made it into the trash.”

The smile he offered her was earnest in its thanks. “I appreciate you stopping to help me. I’m late for my meeting.” 

“We’ll get you there right quick,” she assured him. 

“And with a hall pass from the Captain, that should get them off your back.” 

Parvati smiled as Junlei approached. She had taken a wet cloth to her face since they had last seen each other, but a new swath of grease had found its way across her cheeks, and her hair was beginning to curl out of her bun.

“Are you Captain Tennyson?” the man asked, looking between the two women.

“I am.”

Junlei allowed the man to take her hand, smiled through an overly energetic handshake, and motioned with a slight nod of her head for Parvati to move on. “I’m happy to escort … ?”

“Lance Funson!”

“ … Lance to where he needs to go.”

Parvati turned to Lance and offered her hand, though the handshake was decidedly less enthusiastic than what the captain had been given. “Enjoy your stay here on the _Groundbreaker,”_ she said as a goodbye. 

Before she could slip away, Junlei caught her elbow and pulled her in for a kiss.

2200

“Did you set the alarm?”

Parvati grumbled, hoping in vain that one day she wouldn’t be asked that. Just once she would like to sleep in. “Yes,” she lied.

“Good thing I already did,” Junlei said. She stuck her tongue out at Parvati, watching her get ready for the night from the comfort of their bed. Early to rise, early to bed. That was Junlei’s way. If it weren’t for Parvati, chances were she would get even less sleep than she already did. 

“What we lookin’ at for tomorrow?” Parvati asked. She knew that Junlei would have the to-do list memorized already. Even though she kept a written record of everything that needed to be done, it was always floating around in her head. 

“Always something to do, huh?”

“Uh-huh.” 

Parvati finished combing her hair while Junlei rattled off a list of ailments they needed to treat. Nothing major, she noted. Standard fare for a ship this size, holding this many people. 

Junlei scooted over to the far side when Parvati slid between the covers. She always kept her spot warm for her while she got ready for bed. And yet, every time, Parvati said, “mmmm, toasty.”

And just the same as every night, Junlei said, “you’re toasty.” 

Parvati laughed, and before she was finished, Junlei had already leaned in to kiss her.


End file.
